Recent incidents of tampering with drug and food products in cartons have spurred the Food and Drug Adminstration into requesting more tamper resistant/evident packaging. Industry and the FDA are presently cooperating in joint efforts to expeditiously provide appropriate packaging for drug products and the like which will readily yield visual indication of intrusion. The present invention provides an improved tamper-resistant/evident sealed end carton which will positively indicate entry along the glued seam thereof without adding additional cost to the customer or carton manufacturer. Further, current carton forming equipment need not be modified to produce the improved carton of the present invention.
Many present day carton blanks are conventionally cut and scored to have front, rear, and side wall panels. An end panel will include a glue flap which is glued to the other end panel of the carton blank to thereby form a four-sided carton. Typically, the dust flaps are conventionally folded, one atop the other, and one of two closure flaps folded thereover. The remaining closure flap is then glued over the folded closure flap to provide a conventional sealed-end carton.
It should be apparent from the above description that one bent on intruding into a conventional sealed-end carton could readily separate the glue flap from the panel to which it is glued, carefully unfold the panel to which the glue flap is glued to withdraw the dust flaps accompanying that panel, refold that panel to which the glue flap is glued into the carton by inserting the dust flaps at each end of that panel into dust flapping relationship, and finally regluing the glue flap, the entire intrusion leaving no or little visible evidence thereof. Since a glue flap is necessarily glued to the other end panel of the blank and the glue lap extensions of the present invention glued to the dust flaps of said other end panel, it is apparent that the closure flap will conceal the glue lap extensions which will therefore not be visible to one intruding or attempting to intrude into the carton along the glue lap seam. Intrusion into the carton by means of the glue lap seam will result in a tearing or slitting of the panel to which the glue lap is glued or the dust flap or flaps from that panel, to thereby provide a positive visual indication of tampering or intrusion, despite careful regluing.